Natick museum brings epic heroism of 'Operation Overlord' to life

A Sherman tank is among the artifacts on display at the Museum of World War II in Natick.
SENTINEL & ENTERPRISE / JOHN COLLINS

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NATICK -- Twenty years ago, following the 50th anniversary of the Allied forces invasion of Normandy, the owners of the original Omaha Beach Museum in Villeneuve, France, decided that interest in D-Day had reached its peak and was about to wane.

So they sold the collection to Kenneth Rendell, a Natick-based expert in historical letters and documents, and collector of World War II artifacts, for an undisclosed amount.

Rendell, 71, was a year old when 175,000 American, British and Canadian soldiers, 50,000 vehicles and 5,000 ships and aircraft stormed the five beaches of Normandy on June 6, 1944.

In acquiring the French museum's collection -- including code-named "Operation Neptune" and "Operation Overlord" plans, maps, aerial reconnaissance photos, and weapons, uniforms, boots, helmets, vehicles, and equipment that were actually used on D-Day -- Rendell was banking on his belief that tangible artifacts from "the day that saved the world from evil" will continue to fascinate and draw future generations to his Natick museum.

"This is the most comprehensive collection of World War II artifacts in the world," said Gary Gresh, director of corporate and foundation relations, who hosted The Sun on a museum tour Wednesday. "It's also the only World War II museum that focuses on all aspects of the war. Most museums focus on a particular battle.

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Ours includes all the different countries that fought in the war, including the Russian front, which was the largest.

"Starting with Nazism, the rise of the German army, the fall of Britain, the French resistance, the Holocaust, America's entry into the war, the battles in Africa, and war in the Pacific. It's all here," added Gresh. "No other museum compares."

In commemoration of today's 70th anniversary of the most famous single-day battle in history, The Museum of World War II is displaying a special D-Day exhibit for scheduled visitors through Aug. 30. Many of the items in the D-Day display were pulled from the museum's archives and have not been previously seen by the public.

"Everything you see here was actually at Normandy, at the beaches," said Gresh. "This is the most comprehensive collection of D-Day artifacts you will find in the country, by far. It's really second only to the museum in Normandy."

Perhaps the most goosebump-inducing item in the museum's D-Day collection is an authentic Higgins landing craft that was used in the historic invasion, according to Gresh. It is parked outdoors on wooden tresses under a metal hangar to the rear of the museum's square, cinderblock fortress-like building.

The Higgins boats, in which 30 soldiers huddled together in a 36-by-10-foot space before the landing platform splashed forward into 4- to 8-foot high surf, were the key to the invasion's success, according to Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower, supreme allied commander. (Ike once referred to the inventor of the amphibious landing craft, Andrew Higgins, as "the man who won the war for us.")

"It's one of the few remaining Higgins landing craft in its original condition," said Gresh. "There are probably only 10 remaining in the world that haven't been made into duck boats, or put to other uses. It's a pretty rare thing."

One of the most interesting elements of the D-Day collection that Gresh pointed out is a side-by-side display of letters which the two opposing lead generals, Eisenhower and German Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, each penned home to their wives on June 9, 1944, three days after the invasion.

"You can see in these letters how they painted very different scenarios of how things were going," Gresh said.

Contrasting letters

Though both of the generals' handwriting look nearly impossible to decipher, the museum provides a capsulated transcription in which Eisenhower is quoted informing his wife the invasion was a success, and that "The soldiers, sailors and airmen are indescribable in their élan, courage and fortitude. They inspire me," he wrote.

On the other side, a downcast Rommel wrote home that he found "the enemy's superiority in nearly all regards ... overwhelming," he confided to his wife. "A lot of hardship has been our lot since our parting, and how much more hardship may still come?"

Starting with the airborne invasion by thousands of American and British paratroopers behind enemy lines just after midnight on June 6, followed by the landings of tens of thousands of ground troops on the five beaches of Gold, Sword, Juno, Utah and Omaha from 6:30 a.m. on, more than 10,000 people were killed, injured or taken prisoner by the end of D-Day.

It resulted in thousands of letters being sent home by the military to parents and loved ones of soldiers killed in action, including British Cpl. John Clouston, whose address book, diary and letter home notifying his parents of his death in Normandy is arranged together in the museum's D-Day collection, along with a photo of Clouston's grave.

Glassed-in display cases

Also among the collection is a thigh-high vehicle, resembling a safe with tank-treads, that Gresh explains is actually a remote-controlled bomb designed by Germans to be rolled up the landing platform of the Higgins boats and detonated as Allied troops as came ashore at Normandy.

"They turned out not to be effective for that purpose, and the Germans ended up using them in other ways," Gresh said.

Glassed-in display cases contain myriad items scavenged from the beaches, a "Naval action ration," a booklet titled, "Words and phrases in German"; foot powder; maps; dozens of knives, guns, rifles, brass knuckles and a grenade that has been bisected for a view of its inside. A dummy parachute, used to lure German troops away from the Allies' actual landing spots, hang overhead. Rope ladders and grappling hooks used to scale the cliffs at Omaha Beach hang on a wall.

"At the end of the war material of every kind was very rare, which inspired someone to make this wedding dress from a American Army parachute, and the dress next to it that was made from camouflage," said Gresh, pointing out two of the few female mannequins that are found in the museum.

One of the most interesting World War II-related garments the museum displays is Winston Churchill's "siren suit," as he called the one-piece, zip-up which the British prime minister often donned when air-raid sirens wailed during the war.

The number of living World War II veterans is dwindling by the day, but visits by those who actually wore the clothes and used the equipment the museum features still do occur, Gresh and other staff members report.

"World War II vets love the museum, absolutely," said Gresh. "They get pretty emotional sometimes. In most cases, it brings back things they haven't thought about it in ages. And the stories come up."

Gresh said he counts himself among the world's multitude of history lovers who have a particular fascination with World War II. It is a population segment which the museum's curators have only recently intensified their efforts to reach through press releases publicizing Rendell's collection as a must-visit destination for World War II buffs.

"This is Ken Rendell's collection, his museum, and it could be anywhere in the country," said Gresh. "Prior to 15 years ago, he'd mainly just collect it and store it. In 1999, 2000 he set up this museum. Once certain people have found out about it they've tried to get us to move it to New York, and Washington DC."

The transition from a once-private collection to a publicized destination is still a work-in-progress. To discourage drop-by visits to the Museum of World War II when no volunteer staff member is there, Gresh requested that instead of listing the street address The Sun refer readers wishing to visit to set up a time by email through its website: museumofworldwarii.com.

Patrons are encouraged to make a donation of $25 per visit, which takes an average of three-and-a-half hours to absorb the more than 7,000 items on display in the collection, according to the museum's website.

Saturdays are an especially popular, Gresh said.

Today, the museum is hosting a special 70th anniversary of D-Day event -- that is closed to the public due to space limitations, Gresh said -- in which Rendell and French Consul General Fabien Fieschi are presenting the French Legion of Honor medal to 10 American World War II veterans who participated in the D-Day invasion of the Normandy Beaches.

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